Episode 1368: Barehand Gab
Date April 26, 2019 Summary Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller banter about Rich Hill‘s dominant rehab start, the most famous catches in history and Sam’s article about recreating Kevin Mitchell’s barehand catch, their own best baseball plays, and when it becomes objectionable to sit a player who’s pursuing a single-season record, then answer listener emails about the entertainment value of high-strikeout teams, whether rebuilding teams should try to plan for forthcoming rules changes, how fast a pitch would have to be to knock over a catcher, and the pitchers with the most one-pitch outings, plus an email-inspired Stat Blast about teams with DHs who bat toward the bottom of the order (and why apparent positional trends are sometimes spurious). Topics * How entertaining to watch are high strikeout teams? * Rebuilding your team based on upcoming rule changes * Roster changes if the shift were outlawed * Relationship between win/loss record and position of the DH in the lineup * Christian Yelich and sitting a player who is chasing a single season record * Changing usage trends in the DH and first base * Catchers being knocked back by a pitch * One-pitch outings Intro Billy Idol, "Catch My Fall" Outro Super Furry Animals, "Show Your Hand" Banter * In a recent rehab start Rich Hill struck out 16 batters in 6 innings during extended spring training. * Sam attempted to recreate Kevin Mitchell's bare-handed catch for a recent article on the most famous catches. He and Ben discuss other famous catches in addition to Sam's attempt. * Ben and Sam relive the best moments of their baseball careers. Email Questions * Colin: "Cleveland goes into today third in pitching k% (27.8) and second last in hitting k% (27.4). After flying cross country and facing Kikuchi, and the Blue Jays facing Martin Perez and the Twins pen, and with Trevor Bauer pitching, they could be first in both % stats tomorrow. If we assume balls in play make the game interesting, is this Cleveland team the most unwatchable in MLB with respect to the fact that they neither put the ball in play nor allow it to be put in play? I recognize that it’s generally good to see your own teams pitchers strike guys out. Would perhaps a team with high hitting k% and low pitching k% be more difficult to watch?" * Matt: "Would it be of any advantage to a rebuilding team to look at future rule changes and start drafting /acquiring/developing players that are particularly suited to potential future rules? I can imagine that, for some particularly bad teams (the Orioles, Marlins, Royals, etc.), there may be a strategic advantage of proceeding ahead of the actual rule changes in order to capture any first-mover advantage. But, at the same time, a team that moves too soon could be saddled with players that aren't well-qualified for whatever actual rules go into effect. What is the best time to start preparing for a future rule change, and which prospective changes would you optimize around?" * Kevin: "The other night the Indians had Jake Bauers as their DH batting 8th in the lineup. Whenever I see a DH in the bottom third of the lineup I think the team must be deficient in some way. I was wondering if there is any pattern to a team's W/L record and the place in the order of the DH? Do teams with the DH batting in the bottom third tend to have a worse record than a team with the DH batting 3rd or 4th? * Aaron: “Just switched on Rookie of the Year on MLB Network while waiting the few minutes before Game of Thrones shows up on HBO Go and it is on the scene of (I believe) Henry Rowengartner's first game. Anyway, on multiple pitches closing out the game with a strikeout, Rowengartner's fastball is so ferocious that it knocks over the catcher. I don't recall if the movie ever mentions just how fast Rowengartner can throw (it has been a long, long time since I've seen this gem), but I'm wondering just how hard a pitcher would need to throw a ball to legitimately knock over his catcher, knowing a fastball is coming, in real life.” * Michael: "Roberto Osuna finished the Astros game on Friday night by throwing one pitch. On the Saturday telecast, Mike Stanton speculated that he probably threw a half dozen such games in his career. That seemed absurdly high to me, as I assumed this feat would be quite rare given that bringing a new pitcher in with only one out needed is not common (off the top of my head I would think it only happens if a non save situation gets dicey, or if you are maneuvering for a specific matchup against a tough left handed hitter). I suppose if we expand the search to one pitch outings that didn’t end the game, a LOOGY might have plenty of opportunities to log a one pitch outing. How many such games did Stanton throw? What is the MLB record for such games?" Stat Blast * Sam looks at the potential relationship between a team's win/loss record and the location of their DH in the batting order. * In 2,600 games sampled where teams had their DH batting 7th, 8th, or 9th teams averaged 80.7 wins over the course of a season. * Teams that consistently batted their DH in the bottom of the lineup did not have any worse win/loss records that other teams. Notes * When answering Matt's question Sam recalls how the Red Sox deliberately acquired pitches who can consistently throw lower in the strike zone when it was adjusted several years ago. * David Kagan, a physics professor, estimated that a baseball would need to be thrown at around 600 MPH in order to reliably knock over a MLB catcher. * The MLB record for most one-pitch outings is 34 (since 1988). This has happened 10 times to end a game. Mike Stanton corretly remembered that he threw six games like this. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 1368: Barehand Gab * Dodgers' Rich Hill strikes out 16 in 6 innings of rehab start by Jorge Castillo * Sam's tweet about famous baseball catches * Greatest catch ever? Re-creating Kevin Mitchell's epic bare-handed grab by Sam Miller * Freddy Galvis' barehanded catch * Pinch-hitter, DH, and Other 'Penalties' by Mitchell Licthman * Is third base passing first base as baseball's power position? by Sam Miller * Punting First Base Is The New Black by Dave Cameron * Who killed the DH? by Jim Turvey * The Rise of the Opener Isn't Just Changing Baseball, It's Changing How We Analyze the Game by Ben Lindbergh * Major League Physics * Baseball's Unwritten Rules Are The Vestiges Of A Drunk and Violent Sport by Steven Goldman Category:Episodes Category:Email Episodes